The Power of Networks and Flows: A Case Study

Full title: "The Power of Networks and Flows: A Case Study on the Use and the Impact of Information and Communication technology in the Religious Practice of Chinese Christian Churches"

This project is an exploratory case study of electronic churches. I evaluate how Christian organizations adopt new information communication technology, particularly the obstacles to the appropriation of and the challenges to church authority presented by new technology as well as the relationship between real and virtual communities. I analyze the websites of three Christian organizations: a church with a real community, an association with virtual communities, and a volunteer organization with self-organized ad hoc cells and virtual communities. The results should serve as a basis for further investigations of e-churches and recommendations to Christian communities on management of information communication technologies.